TITLE:
Active Tectonic Strike-Slip Fault Development near Goran, Samba and Kathua Districts, Jammu and Kashmir
AUTHORS:
Vikram Sharma, A. R. Chaudhri
KEYWORDS:
Active Tectonics, Goran Fault, Stream Offsets, Himalaya
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Geology,
Vol.10 No.4,
April
8,
2020
ABSTRACT: Active tectonic morphometric studies of the sparsely investigated frontal Siwalik terrain around Goran in the Samba district bordering the Kathua district of J&K reveal the presence of NW-SE trending active sinistral strike-slip fault with oblique slip component which is parallel to the Surin-Masatgarh anticline. The Basantar River, the Tarnah stream, the Ujh River, the Sahaar stream and the Ravi River exhibit significant stream offsets where the fault crosses these channels. The values of the morphometric indices viz. stream sinuosity index (S), stream length gradient index (SL), valley floor width to valley height ratio (Vf), mountain front sinuosity index (Smf), hypsometric integral (Hi), basin asymmetry ratio (AF) and basin elongation ratio (Eb) calculated along the linear river offsets with respect to longitudinal River segments of the Rivers Basantar, Tarnah, Ujh, Sahaar and Ravi Rivers reveal that terrain is tectonically active and can be placed in tectonic active class I. The fault has an apparent offset of about 2000 m with it as it crosses the Basantar, the Tarnah, the Ujh, the Sahaar and the Ravi Rivers. The stream offsets upon field and laboratory investigations are developed due to an active sinistral strike slip fault which is being named as Goran fault. This fault has a surface expression of 100 km extending from the Basantar in the northwest up to the Beas River in the southwest whereas the remaining segment may exist as a hidden fault all along the Himalaya.